Rise in accountant demand seen as positive economic indicator for Australia

AUSTRALIA's accounting sector has escaped labour slumps that have plagued other high profile professional sectors in Australia over the last six months, and a modest rise in demand for the profession is being seen as a positive indicator. According to the just-released Clarius Skills Indicator, demand for accountants, auditors and company secretaries was largely ‘balanced', rallying in the September quarter with a small surplus of 400 accountants compared with a surplus of 1,000 in the June quarter.

The Clarius Skills Indicator revealed a 2013 "slowdown in mining investment which has now peaked and poor consumer and business sentiment shut the cheque books of business prompting labour demand slides that impaled other sectors".

At this time a year ago, the market cried out for skilled ICT people with a shortage of more than 1,100 professionals. Now it appears to be oversupplied by 1,600 professionals and 200 managers.  

Similarly, demand in engineering slumped from a shortage of 3,000 professionals in September 2012 to an oversupply of 3,200 in the September quarter.

Sales and marketing was the only sector showing a skills shortage, lacking 600 managers.

Paul Barbaro, executive general manager of Lloyd Morgan, a division of the Clarius Group of recruitment companies, said there were small increases in demand for commercial accountants by small-to-medium businesses (SMBs), but these were offset by large companies - especially banks - electing to handle some requirements offshore.

"In a positive sign, there was a slight increase for commercial accountants, particularly with tax and auditing experience, among SMBs especially in Perth and Western Sydney," Mr Barbaro said.

"This was driven by an increased need to review, analyse and better understand their financial viability in the midst of a patchy economy and to stay abreast of tax rules and superannuation changes. 

"On the flip side, banking has been impacted by the cautious economic climate where some bigger players tried to differentiate themselves by keeping staff on-shore, with some actually increasing headcount.

"Offshoring however remained prevalent, particularly among back office administration. At some work sites, back office and non-customer facing contract roles were reduced by up to 90 percent with the majority heading to India."

The Clarius Skills Indicator showed the current surplus of Australian jobseekers of 134,000 greatly exceeded the GFC peak surplus of 90,000. However, focusing on the 10 major occupation categories representing about half of all white collar jobs, or more than four million employees, the oversupply is much smaller at the ‘skilled end' of the market where the surplus is reportedly 17,900.

SALARIES STABLE

Mr Barbaro said salary entitlements across the accounting, banking and finance spectrum had been stagnant through 2013.

According to the Clarius Skills Indicator, the market should expect increased demand for commercial accountants in the second half of 2014 as activity in the housing market ramps up and consumer confidence builds.

The expected abolition of the Carbon Tax and a more business-friendly industrial relations platform under the new Federal Government will also be factors, he said.

"This will become particularly apparent in SMBs where demand for management accountants, fund accountants, tax accountants, business managers and business analysts will become more buoyant," Mr Barbaro said.

"A portion of this activity will be self-correction as business was overzealous in scaling back roles in early 2013 when signs of the mining investment downturn filtered through."

The Clarius report outlined how the Australian labour market had undergone significant swings, driven by the shock and recovery from the GFC.

The Clarius Skills Indicator, previously known as the Clarius Skills Index, is produced in conjunction with Independent Economics, tracking the availability of skilled labour in the entire Australian labour market and providing a forecast for the year ahead.

It draws on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and Commonwealth Department of Employment to measure oversupply and shortfalls for 10 major occupation categories, covering approximately half of all ‘white-collar' jobs (more than four million employees).

http://www.clarius.com.au/

ends